At a news conference in Abuja on Monday, NANS Senate President Babatunde Akinteye highlighted that the proposed adjustment is crucial for students to manage the escalating cost of living and continue their education without undue financial strain.

Akinteye also urged the Federal Government to reduce excessive spending, advocating for a demonstration of leadership by example in these challenging times.

He called for unity and patience, expressing confidence that President Bola Tinubu’s reforms would eventually bring positive outcomes.

“We are at a critical point in our nation’s history, where economic reforms have led to widespread discomfort and hardship,” Akinteye stated.

“The current situation is difficult, and while it is essential to address these issues, we must do so with calm and thoughtful action rather than impulsive protests.”

He acknowledged the severe impact of high fuel prices on students and the lower class but emphasized the importance of cautious and strategic responses.

Akinteye reassured that NANS prioritizes the safety of students and is committed to avoiding actions that could endanger them.

“We must resist the urge to react in haste and focus on preserving life and liberty,” he concluded.

On Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Shettima convened with key stakeholders, including Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, and Executive Director of the Nigerian Mainstream, Downstream, and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Ugbogu Ukoha.

Lokpobiri addressed reporters, emphasizing President Tinubu’s concern and empathy towards the ongoing difficulties faced by Nigerians.

The President has called for urgent reflection and action to stabilize fuel supply and pricing, according to Lokpobiri.

The Vice President is tasked with leading efforts to ensure nationwide access to petroleum products. This intervention aims to rectify fuel distribution imbalances and address the price variations across regions.

Lokpobiri assured that measures are being implemented to improve fuel availability by the end of the week and stabilize prices through market forces.

Despite these efforts, Lokpobiri clarified that the federal government does not set fuel prices, as the sector remains regulated. He affirmed that the administration is dedicated to resolving supply chain issues and meeting the demands of Nigerians.

Currently, President Tinubu is attending the FOCAC summit in China, amid recent fuel price hikes that saw the price per litre surge from N617 to N897.

During an interview on AIT’s Moneyline programme, which was posted on YouTube on Wednesday, Edun explained that this situation prompted President Bola Tinubu to remove the fuel subsidy, as the exact amount of fuel consumed internally in Nigeria is unknown, The Punch reports.

“The fuel subsidy was removed on May 29, 2023, by Mr. President. At that time, the poorest 40 percent of the population was only getting four percent of the value, and basically, they were not benefiting at all. So, it was going to just a few,” Edun stated.

He further elaborated, “Another important point is that nobody knows the consumption of petroleum in Nigeria. We know we spend $600 million to import fuel every month, but all the neighboring countries are benefiting. We are buying fuel not just for Nigeria but for countries to the east, north, and west, almost as far as Central Africa. We have to ask ourselves as Nigerians how long we want to do that.”

Edun emphasized the necessity of taking decisive steps to tackle this issue, as it impedes economic growth. He stressed that the welfare of the people, particularly the vulnerable, is of great importance to the government, with a key focus on ensuring food availability and affordability.

In the interview, Edun also clarified that the N570 billion fund released to state governments was implemented last December. “This refers to a reimbursement received from December last year onwards under the COVID financing protocol. The states have received more money, and Mr. President has charged them to ensure food production in the states,” he explained.

Addressing the recent decision to raise the maximum borrowing percentage in the Ways and Means from five to ten percent, Edun clarified that this does not imply reliance on Central Bank of Nigeria financing. Instead, the government has used market instruments to manage its debts.

“We have not gone to the central bank to say, please lend the government money to pay its debt or salaries. That’s Ways and Means. We have used market instruments to pay down what we owed, and that is essential for having a strong economy,” Edun said.

The approval by the National Assembly is seen as a fail-safe measure, providing extra flexibility to manage payment gaps.

Edun assured that this measure would not undermine local farmers, as importation would only be permitted after exhausting local supplies.

“There is a concerted effort to ensure homegrown food is available. Apart from what is being distributed from reserves, there is a window opened for importation to drive down prices and make food available now,” he stated. Importation will be conditional on exhausting local supplies, with auditors checking compliance.

These interventions aim to reduce inflation, stabilize exchange rates, and lower interest rates, creating a conducive environment for investment and job creation.

The marketers said they have had to resort to depot owners to get petrol available at their retail outlets hence the “slight” increment in the prices of the indispensable product across the country.

The National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry, spoke on behalf of the marketers on Tuesday’s Channels Television’s The Morning Brief breakfast programme.

Petrol scarcity hit the country late with the state-managed NNPC blaming the shortage on “adverse weather conditions” and “flooding”.

Snake-like queues have been seen at filling stations across the country. The situation has worsened traffic in states as the long queues spilt on major roads, hindering vehicular movement just as thousands of people were stranded at bus stops with transport fares doubling the previous amounts.

Aside from NNPC filling stations selling at about ₦570 in Lagos, retail outlets owned by independent marketers jerked up their prices from about ₦615 to over ₦650. The prices are far higher in Abuja and other states.

PETROAN chief (Gillis-Harry) confirmed that the NNPC, which imports petrol into the country and supplies marketers, has not changed its price but “if we do not get the product directly from NNPC, we will get it from depots struggling to do everything to get products out in the market, so the prices will not be the same”.

He said the NNPC was carrying out an upgrade on its platform and that should be concluded as soon as possible “but that did not stop NNPC from making alternative arrangements to make sure we have petroleum products. As far as we know, the challenges are all supply-based”.

“If there is anybody to be blamed; it should be blamed from the source of the products because retailers only sell what we are given, we do not import or refine,” he added.

Gillis-Harry said the cost of logistics was getting more complex daily because diesel used by trucks has also become scarce and expensive. He said the prices of logistics for fuel distribution across Nigeria should be subsidised by the government.

He denied the allegations that petrol marketers are taking advantage of Nigerians by hiking the prices of the commodity. He said the highest cost of petrol should not be more than ₦680.

“I would expect that the highest price in petroleum where the depots operate – Lagos, Delta, Calabar, Rivers State – should be anything between ₦620 to ₦680 maximum. And when you add all the transportation issues that should take it from state to state, you can then look at the incremental additions that can come in, and make us not to be selling at ₦1,000,” Gillis-Harry said.

The Chief Communications Officer, NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, disclosed this to newsmen on Tuesday in Lagos, NAN reports.

He said the company currently has an availability of product exceeding 1.5 billion litres, which can last for at least 30 days.

“Unfortunately, we experienced a three-day disruption in distribution due to logistical issues, which has since been resolved.

“However, as you know, overcoming such disruptions typically requires double the amount of time to return to normal operations,” he said.

He said: “Some folks are taking advantage of this situation to maximize profits.

“Thankfully, product scarcity has been minimal lately, but these folks might be exploiting the situation for unwarranted gain

“The lines will be cleared out between today and tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, the National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, lPMAN, Hammed Fashola, expressed optimism that the queues in Lagos and Ogun would ease off this week, relying on the words of the NNPCL.

Fashola, however, stated that the queues in Abuja might tarry a bit due to the distance to Lagos.

“The information available to us from the NNPCL was that there was a logistics problem, and when that happens, it will disrupt the supply chain.

“That might be a delay in the movement of ships from the mother vessel to the daughter vessel before it gets to the depot tanks.

“Before we can correct that, surely it will take some days. I think by Tuesday or Wednesday, there will be more products available for lifti¹ng by marketers.

“It might take time before it can ease off in Abuja, considering the distance to Lagos and the bad roads; Lagos might be calm this new week,” Fashola assured.

This announcement was made by Farouk Ahmed, the Chief Executive of NMDPRA, during an interactive session with commissioners of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in Abuja.

Ahmed emphasized that petrol stations caught dispensing fuel using adjusted fuel pumps would face severe penalties, including the revocation of operating licenses, operational suspensions, or even complete shutdowns, depending on the seriousness of the violation.

“What we are doing now is that we have some of our staff going round to take on-the-spot checks of some of the petrol stations. If you drive into a station and drive out, you will not know if you have been cheated until you do a measurement.

“Sometimes, we do a physical measurement where we go to some stations and buy one litre and look at that environment to see whether that one litre is really one litre. Then we will know whether or not they have tampered with the pump,” he said.

The NMDPRA boss said that the authority would continue to collaborate with RMAFC to generate more revenue for the federation.

“We have started the engagement, but this is just a formal collaboration on areas where we can improve revenue generation for the federation. There are two areas we have to look at, which are either to generate revenue or cut costs,” he said.

He called on citizens to invest in the midstream sector of the economy, saying: “For example, if you want to build a gas plant, come to us; we will give you the guidelines and the policies, and you will come and invest. The area you want to invest in will determine the cost of investment; the investment opportunities are there.”

RMAFC chairman, Mr Bello Shehu, said the purpose of engagement between both organisations was to strengthen their partnership.

This came as Tinubu ruled out fuel price hike and reversal of fuel subsidy.

However, marketers of petroleum products encouraged the President to learn from Kenya, stressing that the African country had to return subsidy on petrol to curb the devastating impact which its removal had on Kenyans.

The Secretary, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abuja-Suleja, Mohammed Shuaibu said“Let them not do the needful, they will see the consequences. We learned this morning that Kenya, which equally removed subsidy and noticed that its effect was so hard on the citizens, has again resumed the subsidy regime for the period of two months.”

He added, “Government is about the people and it must have a listening ear. For Nigeria, how can we be an oil producing nation with four refineries and all of them are down. We now depend on imports.

“When he (Tinubu) announced that thing (subsidy removal), we said it was going to bring problems. Are we not feeling the consequences of that announcement now? It is forex that largely determines the cost of petroleum products here.

“Marketers are not willing to import products again,  So if the government is going to relax the removal of subsidy for a while, it should better do that as a matter of urgency.”

Shuaibu argued that despite the fact that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited announced earlier on Tuesday that it had no intention of increasing petrol price, the cost of the commodity would rise above its current N617/litre in weeks, if the exchange rate continues to increase.

“Relaxing subsidy removal is going to be a very wise decision right now, because going by the price of the dollar, the cost of petrol is bound to rise. In fact, some oil marketers are ready to join the labour union to protest,” he added.

Some dealers had said subsidy on petrol would gradually creep in, should the NNPCL continue to sell at N617/litre, particularly if the rise in forex rate persists.

The National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, said the outright removal of subsidy would cause severe hardship.

“I’ve been saying this even before subsidy on petrol was removed. How can you stop subsidy without anything on ground as palliatives?

“Trips that used to be N5,000 in the past and now over N15,000. Businesses are shutting down. The suffering is rising. The government has to intervene now,” he stated.

The IPMAN PRO had earlier explained that the price of imported commodities, including petrol, would continue to rise as far as the rate of exchange of the dollar increases.

“Once there is a slack in the naira against the dollar, there is going to be an effect. The demand and supply of forex is a key factor. We should also understand that it is not only petroleum products that use forex.

Dr. Joseph Obele, the IPMAN Chairman in Rivers State, made this appeal in response to the recent fuel price hike.

He highlighted that the ex-depot price has surged from N487.7 per litre to N567.7 per litre, resulting in selling rates ranging from N600 to N620 and beyond.

In a statement, Obele expressed concerns about the adverse impact of these price increases on citizens, emphasizing that marketers would face additional challenges in sourcing trading capital to sustain their businesses.

To tackle the root cause of the issue, IPMAN’s proposed solution is to address the nation’s refineries urgently. They believe that declaring a state of emergency on Nigeria’s refineries is crucial to alleviate the current situation and stabilize fuel prices, ultimately easing the hardship faced by citizens and industry players.

IPMAN’s appeal to President Tinubu comes amidst rising concerns about the economic implications of the fuel price hike and highlights the importance of revamping the country’s refining infrastructure to achieve lasting stability in fuel prices.

According to the government, in the first half of 2023, a total of 11.26 billion litres of petrol were consumed nationwide.

However, after the removal of petrol subsidy in June, daily consumption decreased by an average of approximately 18.5 million litres.

Data obtained from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority revealed that from January 1 to May 28, 2023, during the pre-deregulation period, the country consumed about 9.9 billion litres of petrol. The average daily consumption during this period was approximately 66.9 million litres.

In contrast, from June 1 to June 28, 2023, the post-deregulation period, total petrol consumption dropped to 1.36 billion litres, with an average daily consumption of 48.43 million litres.

This analysis indicates an 18.5 million litre decrease in average monthly consumption after the removal of the petrol subsidy.

While there were instances of petrol consumption exceeding 100 million litres on certain days, the post-deregulation period showed consumption figures consistently below 78.84 million litres throughout the captured 28-day period.

The lowest consumption figure during this period was recorded on June 11, with only 470,000 litres consumed nationwide.

President of the Nigeria Association for Energy Economics, Prof. Yinka Omorogbe, expressed support for the removal of fuel subsidies, citing the negative practices associated with the subsidy regime.

The smuggling of petrol to neighboring countries had been a longstanding concern raised by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and oil marketers during the subsidy period.

Although the removal of fuel subsidies has had some adverse effects, including cost implications, it is seen as a necessary step toward curbing malpractices and promoting efficiency in the sector.